


Broken Bodies

by grayclouds



Series: Alternate Universe Collection [3]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Shingeki no Kyojin Fusion, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-27
Updated: 2015-06-27
Packaged: 2018-04-06 12:38:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4222011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grayclouds/pseuds/grayclouds
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Luffy teaches Law why people smile.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Broken Bodies

**Author's Note:**

> This isn't as much Lawlu as I wanted it to be, but it'll have to do.

“Scared, Captain?”

The walls stood like giants before them, casting a shadow so great it swallowed the entirety of the Survey Corps whole. Law breathed in slow, eyes fixated on the intricately carved symbol of Wall Rose that guarded the only exit and entrance through this district, waiting while the rest of the soldiers slowly joined the formation from the very back to complete it so they could finally leave and get this over with.

“No,” he said, glancing only briefly towards his Commander, who seemed deceptively at ease. Truthfully, Law felt more worried for the possibility of Corazon falling off his horse at some point than he worried about the Titans.

“Not even a _little_ bit?”

“Why would I be?” Law’s horse snorted, as if it could sense his lie, and he had to tug on the reins to keep it from moving around too much. “This isn’t my first expedition.”

“I guess that’s true,” Corazon conceded with a slight smile. “But having a little fear isn’t a bad thing. It’ll keep you alive out there.”

Law remained silent for a moment as the whole of the Survey Corps was now in formation and waiting for the gate to rise. You could almost feel it in the air, the palpable tension of knowing that half of them might not see this gate again.

“Are you scared, Commander?” Law asked then while a soldier gave the signal and the gate started moving, the screeching of metal chains pulling it up echoing ominously through the village street that was deserted of its citizens, occupied solely by soldiers on a suicide mission.

“Me?” Corazon laughed, shaking his head. “Of course. I’m always scared, Law.”

* * *

_Some days he wonders what would have become of him if Corazon hadn’t found him. The underground district would’ve probably served as his grave, and he never would’ve experienced the feeling of looking at that wide expanse of blue above and the exciting fear of falling up into the sky._

_“I won’t lie to you,” the then-Captain of the Survey Corps said to him with a sad smile. “You’re probably much better off here than you are fighting Titans with me.”_

_It didn’t make sense to him for a long time after he accepted the offer in spite of the man’s warning, and joined the Corps._

_How could Corazon possibly think that? That man had singlehandedly found him among the trash in the dregs of the underground and had offered him a purpose beyond surviving day by day. He took Law in with a smile when everyone else was afraid to even go_ near _him. He was the only one who recognized the boy’s latent potential._

_Law would follow Corazon anywhere, unquestioningly._

_Besides, anything had to be better than the underground, right?_

* * *

It was raining.

The smoke from the flares were washed away by the storm instantly, the drops hitting his face feeling like shards of ice trying to crack through his skin. His fingers were frozen over the reins of his horse as he tried to make out his comrades spread out over the wide open field.

“Dammit!” he cursed when his horse nearly slipped over the muddied ground, barely managing to stay upright. He couldn’t see anything anymore in the torrent of rain. Not the trees, not the soldiers, not the Titans.

This was bad. He had to turn back and find the formation again—at this rate, they’d all end up massacred. Law had it memorized, so if everyone had kept it even remotely stable, if he made a cut through to the right, he’d end up somewhere near the centre eventually.

 _Corazon_.

He turned his horse sharply, but the steed moved much slower than usual due to the weather. “Come on!” he shouted in sheer frustration through the roaring wind, shuddering heavily from the cold.

_Just wait for me, Corazon._

For what felt like years, he passed through an open meadow without meeting anyone. He’d never felt this terrifying sense of loneliness before, as if the storm had swallowed him whole and there was no way out.

_Where are you?_

It was starting to get harder to breathe the longer he pushed on, muscles starting to grow sore, but stopping was not an option. If he could find even a single person, _anyone_ , if he just had a clue as to where to go, even a vague idea of where Corazon was, if his Commander was alright, that would be enough for him.

_Where are you?!_

Law passed through a group of trees, where the storm had less of an impact, though it offered little protection against the rain. Something that was lying on the ground several feet ahead caught his eye and he slowed his horse to a trot.

It was a hand.

_Please be alright._

The scene of a bloodbath that followed was an image that would be burned inside his mind forever. He’d seen soldiers eaten alive before, he’d seen the remains of corpses, he’d seen what happened when a Titan had eaten too much and vomited up everything due to its lack of a digestive system, but something about _this_ felt like a knife to the gut.

 _Corazon_.

They were scattered around the field as if they’d been carelessly, ruthlessly discarded. Killed, torn and cracked, thrown away, for no discernible reason. Just another mountain of broken bodies.

Had Law not been used to the sight and scent of death, he probably would’ve thrown up the bile that was rising in his throat then and there.

And then the worst came: he recognised some of them.

 _Vergo_. _Bell-mère. Smoker. Tashigi._

Names that went together with faces, voices, smiles and frowns and quirks, things that made them human. Then, their places in the formation.

_**Corazon**._

Ice filled his lungs as the realization hit him like a thunder strike. Vergo was supposed to be _next to Corazon_ in the formation.

_No, no, no, no, no, no, no—_

Law slipped off his horse, boots buried in the mud, and trudged through the blood and the limbs and the bodies frantically, searching while at the same time praying that he wouldn’t find anything, hoping against all odds that Corazon had gotten away, that he was fine, that this had been some brave sacrifice from the soldiers killed here to help their Commander escape.

And then he wanted to laugh and cry and _scream_ , because he knew that Corazon would’ve been the first to die, the first to sacrifice himself for the rest.

His feet felt like anchors dragging him down to the bottom of a lake. He slipped, fell, got back up, the wind blowing into his face as if trying to keep him back.

_Anyone but him._

Removed from the rest of the bodies, as if it had been dragged some distance away, Law found a leg.

 _Please not him_.

And an arm.

 **_Please_** _._

Then a head.

Corazon’s head.

It wore a smile.

* * *

The day Wall Maria fell, Luffy thought about the ocean.

Usopp had told him about it. It was supposed to be filled with enough salt and fish to sustain the entire human race for centuries, which Nami scoffed at, and Zoro thought _had_ to be an exaggeration.

Luffy, however, had been excited. A body of water spanning an entire horizon, mountains that spewed fire, countries made of ice—he wanted to see it, all of it. Sometimes he dreamed of being a bird with all the liberty to fly over the wall to see the world, _free_.

Then he woke up, and people were screaming.

* * *

“N-no,” Nami was shaking, sobbing uncontrollably, her back pressed against the wall as a large, ugly face with bulging eyes peered down at her, wearing a monstrous grin on its face. She was cornered. A large hand came down and grabbed her before she could get away, her expression contorted into pure terror.

Luffy turned the corner as he’d been running through the streets searching for his friends, and ran into the alleyway at the familiar screams.

“Pl-please, _no_ —“

His heart dropped at the sight of her, struggling and squirming desperately as the Titan picked her up, lifting her towards his wide open mouth. “NAMI!” He would’ve ran towards her, stupidly throwing away his own life, if it wasn’t for the arms that wrapped around his waist, keeping him back.

“Are you insane, boy?” Some Garrison soldier. “There’s nothing you can do for her! You’ll get yourself killed!”

Luffy knew that was the truth, even if he tried so hard to pretend that it wasn’t. There was nothing he could do.

Nothing, but watch.

Nami looked at him, in that second right before her death, tears streaming down her face and reaching towards her with her hand. “ _Luffy_!” she cried, her voice hoarse, and still reaching, reaching desperately even though she knew it was hopeless. “Save m—“

The sickening noise of bones being crushed followed just a moment later, together with a horrific scream and the sound of a choked gasp—the sound of someone choking on her own blood. Then, a thud. The upper half of her torso had dropped on the ground. The Titan turned away, and looked at Luffy.

Luffy didn’t move, not until the Garrison soldier dragged him away.

A part of him remained there, with Nami, and it died together with her.

* * *

He never found a trace of Usopp.

Except for the upper half of his head.

Luffy bit back a scream.

He felt like he was dying, and all he could do was watch.

* * *

Zoro went down fighting.

He stabbed at a Titan’s eye with a shard of glass, but it regenerated a moment later. When it bit through his legs, Zoro didn’t scream. Instead he looked down at Luffy, blood dripping into his eyes, and screamed at _him_.

“ _Run, Luffy_!”

Luffy didn’t want to run. He wanted to save his last friend. He wanted to save Zoro, somehow, _somehow_ , throwing rocks at the Titan, yelling at it, _pleading with it_ , “LET HIM GO!”

_Take me, take me instead._

Zoro tried to push back against the Titan’s teeth, halfway into its mouth already, his blood dripping onto Luffy’s face, tears dripping with it. “RUN, YOU IDIOT! RUN AND KEEP ON LIVING!” he shouted in sheer anger, in fear, not for his own life, but for Luffy’s. “ _I’M ALREADY DEAD_!”

His arms gave out, and the Titan bit down.

In the end, Luffy really could do nothing.

Nothing but watch.

* * *

_Sometimes he wishes he died together with them._

* * *

“What’s your name, recruit?”

He couldn’t be older than seventeen, and yet he outmanoeuvred even the veterans in the Survey Corps as if it were child’s play.

“Monkey D. Luffy, sir!” the boy said with a grin, saluting him cheerfully.

Law’s subordinates had complained about this particular recruit before—his attitude was too carefree, he didn’t seem to take anyone seriously, and in spite of his prodigious talent in handling the 3DM-gear, he had absolutely zero discipline.

“Do you know why I called you into my office?” Law asked, hands folded neatly on top of his desk.

Luffy scratched the back of his head, appearing clueless. “To say hi?”

“Obviously not,” Law replied sternly. “I called you here because I’ve been getting complaints from your Squad Leader. Sanji tells me you have trouble following his orders and have a bad habit of breaking several rules, including stealing rations from the kitchen outside of meal times.”

“Uh,” Luffy laughed nervously. “Well, I mean, he never ordered me _not_ to get extra snacks.”

Law narrowed his eyes, starting to have an increasing difficulty in figuring this boy out. His file said that he originated from Shiganshina, the district where Wall Maria had been breached. The boy had to have been witness to countless of horrors—following that, he was present at the Battle of Trost as well. This kid had been scarred by death at very young age. How could he still be this bright, this happy?

“I don’t think you understand the severity of the situation,” Law said slowly, stare fixated on the boy’s face, hoping to catch some sign of a façade. “If this goes any further, I’ll have no choice but to transfer you to the Garrison or the Military Police.”

Luffy’s eyes widened at that. “Please don’t do that, sir! I promise not to steal too much from the kitchen next time!” 

Was this kid being serious? The Commander sighed irritably, leaning back into his chair. “I hope you’re not treating this like a game, recruit.”

“I’m not, sir!” Luffy insisted, his expression so earnest that for a moment, Law was almost inclined to believe him.

“You’re acting as if this is a joke,” Law continued harshly. “For someone who witnessed the tragedy in Shiganshina first-hand, I find it a bit odd that you’re constantly smiling.” _  
_

Then it happened. The light-hearted expression on the boy’s face faded instantly, and he stared down at his feet, a ghost of a smile remaining sadly on his face. Law watched, captivated.

“If I don’t smile, who will, Commander?” Luffy said softly, glancing up at him, all the brightness gone from his eyes.

For the first time in years, Law felt his heart ache.

* * *

  _Luffy goes through training with empty eyes. His fellow trainees think he’s weird, and don’t understand the story behind his gaze._

_One day, when he’s out in the village by himself, having gotten an afternoon of free time from his superiors due to his excellent scores in practice, he meets a soldier from the Survey Corps inside a pub._

_The man recognises Luffy’s trainee outfit and invites him to the table, where Luffy meets his friend as well. The two are Squad Leaders, Ace and Sabo, and treat him to a drink. The alcohol burns in his throat, and Luffy grimaces._

_“Well, at least that’s better than the empty look you had before,” Ace says with a lopsided smirk, refilling his glass. “How old are you, kid?”_

_“Fourteen.”_

_“You look pretty dead for a fourteen year old.”_

_“Ace, be nice,” Sabo chides him, taking a sip from his whiskey. “Wow, this tastes like crap.”_

_The freckled man laughs. “What did you expect?”_

_Luffy is silent for most of the conversation, but watching the two of them, bantering and laughing and smiling—how do they do that?_

_“Hmm? How do we do what?”_

_“You’ve seen Titans, haven’t you?” Luffy asks quietly._

_“And killed a bunch at that,” Ace brags smugly, Sabo rolling his eyes._

_“Then you know what they’re like!” The entire pub quiets down at Luffy’s exclamation, his palms slamming down onto the table-top. “You’ve seen what they do to people! How can you still smile after that?!”_

_It’s silent for a moment, Ace and Sabo exchanging looks, before the former sighs, looking up at Luffy with a grave expression. “I have to,” he says simply._

_“Why?”_

_“For the people that can’t.”_

_Nami._

_Usopp._

**Zoro**.

* * *

Somehow, Luffy always managed to light up the room.

Law could never look away whenever he walked in, grinning and smiling, cracking jokes and making fun of everything and everyone without a care in the world.

Sure, there were soldiers who cracked jokes, and smiled, and grinned, and did everything Luffy did, but there was always a shadow in their eyes, an underlying tone, a hint of something broken underneath the skin.

Luffy didn’t have that, because he wasn’t smiling for himself. He wasn’t trying to make himself forget about the nightmares, the memories, the fear of the future. He did it for the rest of them. For the people who couldn’t anymore.

When the boy went on his first expedition, he took down four Titans.

Watching him manoeuvre between the trees effortlessly, it almost looked as if Luffy was flying, and the first time Law saw it, it took his breath away.

* * *

_Sabo and Ace show up once a month in that pub to share a drink with him, and they teach Luffy how to smile, how to laugh, even how to have fun. It soon becomes the only thing Luffy looks forward to._

_One day, Sabo shows up alone._

_They don’t talk about Ace. In fact, they don’t talk at all._

_Instead, they drink in silence, and stare at the lonely cup sitting on the table between them._

_At the spot where Ace used to sit._

* * *

Law steadied him, whenever he felt like he was starting to fade away.

On days where his smile faltered, where he wanted to curl up in his bed and stay there until he died, the Commander would knock softly on his door, entering and sitting on the edge of his mattress, looking down at him.

“You can’t stay here,” he’d say, and Luffy would peer up at him from the edge of his blanket. “We need you.”

Luffy never failed to take that hand, whenever it was extended to him.

Its warmth was more comforting than his bed could ever be.

* * *

_Sabo stopped coming, but Luffy didn’t stop smiling._

_He wasn't smiling for himself, after all._

* * *

After Luffy’s fourth expedition, when he returned to the base, he found the Commander seated on the cold, hard floor of his office, leaning back against the wall.

“Sir?”

Law didn’t even look up at him, gaze fixated on an invisible spot on the floor, blank. Luffy hesitated for a moment, before closing the door shut behind him and locking it as well, moving to sit down next to the Commander. It was difficult—his leg ached agonizingly, and he really should get it set in a proper cast, but this was more important.

They’d lost almost half of their forces today. Ever since Law became the Commander, the losses had been cut down to 30%, so the sudden spike in deaths this expedition had been a step backwards for the Survey Corps. If they hadn’t pulled out as quickly as they did, they would’ve lost _over_ half.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Luffy said quietly. No one could’ve seen that Aberrant Titan coming—it had been _intelligent_ , he was sure of it. No one had anticipated it.

Law took in a deep breath. It sounded shaky. He was shaking. “I know.”

“Then why are you—“

“You nearly died,” the Commander spoke suddenly, looking at him with wide eyes, as if he still couldn’t believe what happened. “You nearly died, because of me.”

Luffy was at a loss, completely bemused. He’d saved Law from the clutches of that Aberrant Titan without thinking twice—it had seemed like an obvious choice. Law was so much more important.

“I’m just one soldier,” Luffy responded with a slight frown, not understanding.

“You _should_ be just one soldier,” Law agreed somewhat, leaning his head back against the wall. “But you’re not, not anymore. You’re the most talented soldier we have, Luffy. You’re worth a hundred men.”

“Oh,” And Luffy felt a bit disappointed.

Law noticed. “What is it?”

“Is that all I am to you? A talented soldier?”

The Commander looked away, brows furrowed, going back to staring at that spot on the floor. “If you’d died, I don’t know what I would’ve… what I…” He trailed off as Luffy reached over and took his hand, placing the palm on his heart.

“I didn't die, I'm alive,” Luffy said, stern for a rare moment, and Law merely stared at the place where his fingers felt the beat of the boy’s heart, healthy and strong. “So are you.”

“I didn’t feel alive, for a long time,” Law admitted quietly. “Not until you…” His hand moved up Luffy’s chest, to his neck, fingertips trailing over his skin.

Their eyes met.

Law never got to finish his sentence.

* * *

Rumours were everywhere, but the gossiping didn’t disturb them. Not when Luffy’s lips tasted like salvation and Law’s fingers felt like heaven.

They never talked about it. After a night of desperate kisses and whispered promises they knew they couldn’t make true, they simply went on with their week, pretending as if nothing had changed. It would be too painful to acknowledge otherwise, knowing that someday soon, one of them would have to burn the other at a pyre—if there was anything left to burn.

It still bled into daytime, though. Sometimes Law’s touches on Luffy’s shoulder lingered. Sometimes Luffy’s smiles were a little bit brighter when Law was looking at him. Sometimes their eye-contact lasted for a second too long.

They both knew they would regret this the moment it started, but when you were surrounded by death, anything that made you feel alive, that made you feel human, was like a drug, instantaneously addictive.

It wasn’t going to last, that much was obvious.

But even they couldn’t have anticipated the way it would end.

* * *

_He wonders what Corazon would've done._

* * *

 “Do you take responsibility for the deaths your orders have caused?”

Luffy watched the farce of a trial with trembling hands, only held back by Robin’s fingers on his shoulder, tight as her grip is. Law faced not the military tribunal as is customary for any soldier charged with something, but a jury consisting of high-ranking nobles who decided that the recent disastrous expedition was entirely Law’s fault.

They lost over half their forces, this time. It was that Aberrant Titan, again—they managed to kill it, they discovered the _human_ inside of it, a tall man with short, blond hair—but these revelations were all ignored by the nobles, because the losses, according to them, were costing too much money.

Never before had Luffy wanted to kill anything other than Titans, until now.

Law stared the judge in the eyes, unflinching, steady. “I do.”

The judge looked towards the jury. They all seemed to be in agreement about something, hardly any discussion required about the sentencing that would be delivered immediately. One of them stood up from the benches, walked towards the judge, whispering something in his ear.

Something the rest of them only just overheard.

Robin squeezed his shoulder, and Luffy felt his blood run cold.

 _No_ , he wanted to scream, rage and dread coiling together in his gut—he wanted to unsheathe his blades and murder every single bastard on those benches, he wanted to cut through the ropes binding Law’s wrists together, wanted to run away with him, but he didn’t. Not a sound escaped his mouth.

Once more, there was nothing he could do but watch.

“Trafalgar Law,” the judge spoke, and Law stared at him, head held high. “I hereby sentence you to death.”

* * *

_He dreams—of Nami’s oranges, and Usopp’s storybook, and the glint on Zoro’s blade._

_He dreams of the four of them in the meadow, talking about the day they’ll join the Survey Corps and escape these walls._

_He dreams of depthless oceans, and mountains that spew fire, and countries made of ice._

_He dreams of the twinkle in Sabo’s eyes, and of Ace’s smile._

_He dreams of a beach, where he stands with bare feet in the sand, water stretching over the horizon._

_He dreams of Law being there next to him, holding his hand._

* * *

Luffy watches as they tie the noose around his neck. He’s not alone in doing so—there’s an audience, a crowd of people surrounding him. It’s not every day that the Commander of the Survey Corps is executed, after all.

Law isn’t looking at him. Luffy isn’t sure if it would be easier or more difficult if he did look, but it doesn’t matter, because he _wants_ him to look either way, just once, even a glance would be enough.

Robin, named the fourteenth Commander of the Survey Corps, made him swear not to interfere. She told him that it would accomplish nothing, argued that it would only make things harder for Law, who is sacrificing himself for the rest of the Survey Corps; it had been either his life, or the disbandment of the entire branch itself.

Her words barely got through. Luffy only just about managed to keep control of himself, or he would’ve broken into the prison on the eve of judgment and murdered every single person in his way to get to Law, but he knew that wasn’t what Law wanted. It would’ve only made the former Commander hate him for being so selfish.

The executioner moves towards the lever on the platform where Law stands.

For the last time, Luffy can do nothing but watch.

Then Law looks up. His eyes search the crowd and find Luffy, near the front row, and their gazes lock.

All at once, Luffy regrets it. Regrets not killing, regrets not rescuing, regrets that he ever listened to Robin, regrets that he ever cared about what Law would’ve wanted, because he’d rather have Law alive and loathing Luffy for the rest of his life instead of becoming yet another dream.

Before Robin can prevent it, he's already moving. “ _Law_!” Luffy screams, tearing through the crowd, reaching for him, no one that’s strong enough to stop him as he shoves people out of the way left and right, clawing his way towards the platform—

Law smiles.

The lever is pulled.

**END**


End file.
